How do High School Students in Hanoi Explain the Factors that Affect their Critical Thinking Abilities?

Critical thinking is widely recognized as an important skill, yet students’ perspectives on the factors influencing its development remain underexplored. This study explores how high school students in Hanoi explain the factors that affect their critical thinking abilities. This study used a mixed methods approach. In the quantitative phase, the study collected critical thinking test scores from 171 high school students in Hanoi from international and public schools. In the qualitative phase, 16 interviews were conducted with purposively sampled students. The findings show that students’ critical thinking is shaped by individual, family, and school-level factors, with engagement playing a central role. Engaged reading, extracurricular activities, family discussions, and open-ended, interactive schoolwork were perceived to support critical thinking, while memorization-focused teaching and playing musical instruments were not directly associated with enhancing critical thinking. This study provides a student-centered understanding of critical thinking development in the Vietnamese high school context.